Month: March 2016

If you read my blog posts you’ll be aware that I’m working my way through Elfs new beautifully bare collection. The line is meant to be natural flawless looking makeup for your ‘no makeup makeup’ days. In this review we’ll be looking at the Lash Tint Mascara in ‘naked noir’. When I recently put an order in with Elf I received this for free as they had a special offer on, to buy it would of been £5. I tend to go for big chunky mascaras that will give me as much length and volume as possible so I had to change my mindset when trying this product, I thought of more natural and fluttery lashes that would look nice with toned down summer makeup.

I really like the packaging is this line, the sleek silver mirrored tube looks great although the finger print aspect is starting to annoy me lol. The brush on this product is TINY, I mean really really tiny. Here is it next to a Freedom Makeup London mascara brush to show you in comparison.

Elf claim that “this innovative and revolutionary applicator expertly combs and coats each individual Lash for weightless coverage. The micro fibre infused formula creates buildable volume from root to tip.” I’m afraid I have to really disagree with that!!! The information is all very conflicting, by the name ‘lash tint’ you would assume it litrally tints your lashes black for a real natural ‘your lashes but better’ look. Yet on the back of the packet it’s claiming buildable volume? I wasn’t overly impressed with the brush, I found it actually started uncurled my lashes when applying. It did separate most of my lashes but there wasn’t any volume going on, I do have to say the mascara colour is very black which I did like and even noticed later on when I looked in the mirror. But even if I could get past the minimum volume and straight lashes, I hate to say it as I love Elf, the formula sucks. My lashes took about half an hour to dry, this is not exaduration even after the half hour they were tacky and sticky to touch. While they were drying everytime I blinked I felt like my top and bottom lashes were trying to stick together which was really irritating and uncomfortable. Here are some photos of what it looked like on.

It didn’t look horrendous and if it wasn’t for the sticky formula I would of proberly given it another few goes but I couldn’t stand the feeling of my lashes sticking together so sadly this is a fail for me. I recently review the Beautifully Bare Total Face Palette which I loved if you were interested in reading reviews on other products in the line. I will also be reviewing the beautifully bare blush this week too.

Well well well hasn’t there been some huge online hype around this palette!!?? I have to say I’m not suprised, it was created by British Beauty Blogger for Makeup Revolution and as you can see it’s beautiful. There were lots of sneek peek preview photos of this palette from Makeup Revolutions birthday party all over instagram which in my opinion really hyped this product up!! As I own way too many eyeshadow palettes I’m more selective with which ones I buy these days but after seeing the palette for myself at the party I knew it had to be mine.

The packaging is really unique for Makeup Revolution, it’s matte gold with a shiny gold design, it feels and looks more luxury that most of the other palettes within their range. The palette is equipped with a hefty 30 eyeshadows as well as a big mirror and an eyeshadow brush. Not the best brush but by far not the worst, the flat side is perfect for packing colour onto the lids. I used it slightly damp for the swatches and as you can see it really gave the colours even bolder pigmentation.

I think the colour selection is fantastic, there is a bit of everything!! Light to dark neutrals, pinks, mauves, blues, greens, metalics.. it has it all. You can create so many different looks with this palette it’s a great all rounder. There’s a fab selection of mattes and some really pretty shimmers, although the stunning baked marbleised finished eyeshadows in the palette are what really caught my eye, I think it’s what also makes this palette so appealing and different.

To swatch most of the shadows were pigmented and smooth, there were a few stiffer colours that require more work to build up the pigmentation which was slightly disappointing but for less that £10 for 30 eyeshadows you can’t complain. Some of the colours that were more difficult to swatch with my finger applied much better with an eyeshadow brush and we’re lovely and blendable. Because of the fantastic colour selection it’s super easy to create a whole eye look without reaching for any other eyeshadow products. It drives me crazy when I buy a beautiful palette and to complete a look having to reach for other shadows to get either a matte or shimmery cream or even a crease colour. This palette has it all! You definatly need a good primer for these shadows to last but thats something I would use every day anyway. Overall a lovely little palette, again slight shame some colours require more work but this is the case with most affordable palettes. Using them slightly damp really helped with this issue. I will add some photos of the different looks I have achieved with this palette down below. Do you own this palette? What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts the comments below!

Becca xxx

For this look I played around with the greens on the palette for a smudgy olive toned smokey eye. To add some lilac I used Makeup revolution eyeliner in ‘depraved’ on the waterline.

For this look I used the peachy colour with a shimmery white inner corner highlight and to line my eyes I used some of the gorgeous navy shades. To finish the look off I used Makeup revolutions blue eyeliner in the shade ‘baddest blue’.

For the top look I used a damp brush and packed on a metallic pink (very similar to a colour in the urban decay naked 3 palette) with a bronzed gold on the outter corner, a light brown in the crease and a matte cream on my brow bone. I also used a Makeup Revolution lipliner in the shade ‘the one’ in my waterline. To add to this makeup for more of a night time smoked out look, I used the darkest marbleised eyeshadow which is black with metallic red running through it and pressed that into the gold shadow. I also added a shimmery white on my brow bone.

Freedom Makeup recently did a collabe with House of Glam Dolls to create four ‘all in one’ palettes. For those of you who don’t know, House of Glam Dolls is a makeup training academy in London. When Freedom first launched I was invited to a makeup course there using all the new Freedom products. It was run by David Horn it was absolutely fantastic I would highly recommend their courses, there is a blog about it further down the page! (my blog is getting a revamp soon to make articles easier to find!!)

The palettes are £8 each and avalible in four different colour choices. I chose Vintage Doll as I’m quite pale and thought the blushes would suit my skin tone. On reflection I wish I would of gone for Fairy Doll as I love bright coloured makeup but I did think I would get more day to day use of Vintage Doll.

Each palette contains 4 brow powders, 3 highlight shades, 4 lipglosses, 2 blush and 10 eyeshadows. I don’t normally buy all-in-one palettes as they remind me of kiddie makeup and I just don’t seem to reach for them but as I love the vast majority of Freedom Makeup I really wanted to give them a go, and for £8 it was a bargin.

I really like the brow powders, there is a shade for nearly everyone. They apply smoothly and have great pigmentation. Another bonus is although I would only use one, maybe two shades on my brows these double up as eyeshadows. I liked using the lighter shades in the crease and the darker shades to add demention and smoke things out!

Here are the swatches of the blushes, I feel these steal the show in this palette. They actually remind me of Sleek blushes, which is a big claim to make! They are so creamy and pigmented you only need the tiniest dab on your brush, they blend out beautifully and last really well throughout the day. They leave a slight stain which helps with the staying powder.

One of the issues with having lipglosses next to shadows in a palette like this is that is you know within minutes you will get powder, dust and random bits stuck to the products. I think the only way it works is if there is a separate flap covering the lipglosses. The colours themselves show up lighter than they appear in the pan which is a shame, but it was expected. They’re nice for a light wash of colour and last for maybe an hour or so. I like that you can mix the colours to customise your own shade but I don’t think they are needed in the palette and could of been left out.

The eyeshadow and highlight layout in the palette did confuse me slightly so I’m lumping them into the same category as both products are multi functional. It’s funny because when I saw the palette online I thought ooo pretty, but when it was in front of me it took me a while to think of what do with it! As you’ll see further down the page I managed to create quite a few different eye looks with this palette but it was rather confusing that I didn’t feel inspired straight away. I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like it. There’s a good selction of shimmers and mattes, most shades are pigmented and looked really pretty to me after I swatched them but a couple were quite stiff so required more time and effort. I have found this tends to be in case in most drug store palettes so it wasn’t a deal breaker for me. Infact I’ve even found it in a few high end palettes too!!!

Although this is not my favourite palette in the whole world, it is a decent product. I think it would be great for someone starting out in makeup as it has 5 products for only £8! You can really experiment and practice with different colours and looks while not worrying your money’s being washed down the sink as it’s so reasonably priced. Another thing I think this product would be fabulous for is travel, it’s a small sized palette so even if you bought all 4 you could slip them in your suitcase or carry on and have endless looks at your finger tips. I do think I would take this on holiday it just seems so convenient taking one product, apose to 5. I’ve enjoyed creating different looks and seeing how much I can get out of this palette.

After seeing Elf cosmetics were back to the UK once again after solving shipping issues I was very pleased. I really missed the brand, as they’re so affordable, have awesome deals and products as well as free gifts ordering is quite addictive! I recently placed an order with lots of new goodies to play with, the Total Face Palette being one of them. It is part of their Beautifully Bare collection, the idea being that each of the products are light and natural creating a “no makeup makeup” look. Showing off your natural beauty….. with a tiny bit of help lol.

Here is a photo of the order I placed from my Instagram, as you can see the palette is in the top left of the frame. The packaging is cute and simple, the palette itself is in a mirror effect compact, with a real mirror inside. It costs £8 which I think is good value as it contains two blushes, a pinky shade and a coral shade, a subtle highlight and a contor powder.

The powers themselves are smooth, creamy and pigmented, which gives you the option to have a light sweep of colour across the cheeks or really build them up for a more night time full faced look. They all blended into the skin with ease for quick application. The blush colours are adorable I’ve found myself reaching for them most days, I mainly would use a pink or a coral so this covers all bases. The contour shade is really nice too, the shade would work on most light skin tones although it is a tad warm so I’ve been taking it easy with how much product I pick up with my brush. With a light hand it creates a natural looking shadow that brings warmth and definition to the face. It blends out beautifully and you don’t need very much product, again due to the pigmentation. If you wanted really sculpted and defined cheek bones you still have that option. The highlight is super subtle, it only has a slight shimmer that once applied to the face looks natural and radiant. I do love a good shimmery highlighter but it doesn’t always look right with light casual makeup so this is a great alternative.

A few negatives, they really could do with more deep skin tone options as both of the palette shades they offer seem pretty light to me. Unless there were deeper palettes but they sold out so they’re not avalible now?! If anyone knows please do comment below!!!! I also think the packaging is a teeny bit flimsy but for the price and products inside you really can’t complain.

Overall I highly recommend this palette, the colours they have chosen and the powder consistencies are spot on and it’s a fabulous price. Here’s some photos of myself using the Beautifully Bare palette.

A while ago I was sent a priming water from Freedom Makeup London The water is full of nourishing multi vitamins and is prices at £6.00 for 100ml. If you follow my blog you’ll know with primers and foundations I like to thoughaly test them out with a viaraty of other products before I give my verdict so that I am confident in my opinion. This was my first experience with a priming water, it seems crazy that a product with the consistence of water could prime your skin to help your makeup go on smooth as well as make it last. So I was very curious to see how this would perform. My skin is slightly oily and I can get dry patches, although they have cleared up since using Freedoms pro studio moisturiser, if your interested I have reviewed further down my page. I tend to use mattifying primers, again I have reviewed Freedoms further down the page lol. After testing and testing and testing again I have come to the conclusion that this primer is a handy little tool to have in your collection. If your in a rush it’s fantastic to quickly spritz on the face, it’s smells gorgeous which is always nice, and dries fast. My makeup applies beautifully and not only that, lasts really well throughout the day with no dry patches or grease pools around my nose. It also seems to help blur my pores slightly, which as we all know is always a good thing. I’ve mainly been using medium-full coverage foundations recently and I’ve noticed a difference in the overall look as well as the longevity of my face products. You get a lot of product for your money so it would last you for ages, the mist is so fine even after a month or so of nearly constant use I’ve only used a quarter of the product. If your looking for an everyday quick primer to save you time as well as do the job, this could be the priming water for you!

Becca xx

Disclaimer: although this product was sent to me to review that doesn’t remotely effect my opinion of the product. I would not sell my sole for makeup xx

Here’s my review of Burts Bees Matte Lip Crayon in the shade ‘Hawiaiian Smolder’ as well as a lip gloss in the shade ‘Spring Splender.’ The Crayons are priced at £8.99 and avalible in 6 shades, the Lipgloss is also £8.99 and avalible in 12 shades. The packaging is adorable, I love how a bee hive pattern has been incorporated into the lids. The formula of the crayon is pigmented, smooth and feels comfy to wear, very creamy like a lip balm. The quality of the product really speak for itself, the colour lasts for ages, it doesn’t bleed out all over your face and unlike most lip Crayons after an hour or so of wear it doesn’t bunch up on the lips or leave that dreaded ‘lip linner’ ring around your mouth. The colour sinks into your lips gradually which is a lot more flattering and natural looking! The colour itself is pretty and perfect for spring, it would also look great on nearly all skin tones. I usually feel a bit self contious wearing bright colours on my lips incase they get on my teeth but I didn’t get that feeling at all with this lip crayon, it stayed nicely in place where I wanted it to. Another bonus of the lip crayon is how handy it is to pop in your handbag and use on the go. It also contains 100% natural ingredients, some of which are very nourishing such as shea butter and kendi oil which is great as I know my lips won’t become dried out and sore. It would say it’s fairly matte but there is still a slight shine, although i don’t mind this it’s almost as if a matte lipstick and a lip balm had a baby! I really enjoyed this product and had to hold myself back from buying all the colours. Pigmented comfy colour with lip balm properties, perfection! In my eyes these are a total win, I would recommend to anyone and everyone. Here are the swatches of the Crayon and Lipgloss:

Now onto the Lipgloss! It does have a slight pearl shimmer to it but doesn’t massively transfer onto the lips, it can potentially be seen close up in natural light if you were really looking for it but you won’t look like a disco ball in the slightest. The formula is shiney and slick, it feels more balmy than sticky which is a big thumbs up in my book I hate super sticky lipglosses! It contains 100% natural products and has a big boost of natural oils to leave your lips feeling hydrated and nourished as well as super glossy. It has a nice wash of colour that would look good over most lipsticks but also can stand on its own as a subtle sheen balmy product. It lasts fairly well as far as lipglosses go so I was pleased with this product too, it’s great to throw in my handbag if I need a light, pop of colour or if my lips are sore when im out and about. I really love that these products are helping my lips not hurting them, I have noticed my lips haven’t been getting as sore and peely even after spending all day out in the cold.

I think by now you can tell how much I love these little beauties!!! Here’s a few photos of how the colours can look in different lights on the lips!